Avatar: The Last Road Trip Zuko is Ever Going On
by Roger Johnson
Summary: This story is mainly Sokka/Toph. It is a modern AU where the gaang Zuko his annoying older sister go on a roadtrip to get to the beach house. Zuko hates it. Toph doesn't like Sokka's choice of games. Katara has the map, Aang is the driver, and Apa is a car.


The thing about road trips is that most of the conversation is generated by things outside of the car: a field full of cows, a breathtaking view of a river, brightly coloured scenery. This tends to exclude people who can't see out the windows, i.e. Toph. Sokka is painfully aware of it when they pass a field of beautiful yellow sunflowers and he says, "Look at that!" Toph just sighs and leans her head against the window.

Aang is in the driver's seat, unwilling to let anyone but Katara take a turn with the van his foster-grandfather had left to him like 100 years ago. Katara's being the responsible navigator, reading the map for him. Toph and Sokka are in the middle row, her curled up with her feet under her and him leaning against the window most of the time, looking for anything new and exciting. Zuko's stretch out in the backseat taking an angry nap. Every time he wakes up he complains loudly about how he never wanted to come on this dumb trip, but they had forced him to. It's only been six hours but Sokka's already certain Zuko's going to ruin the fun. It's in his veins.

The goal is Zuko's family's summer home on some beach that Sokka estimates is about a million miles away from their home, because apparently it's going to take two whole days to get there. They're camping overnight, which Sokka is _not_ a fan of, because of bugs and dirt _et cetera_, but he also doesn't have the money to pay for a hotel, so he's due for a whole 10 hours of suffering.

At one point Aang turns up the music and he and Katara start singing along, and Sokka cringes because, God, they are s_uch _a couple. Even if they do giggle and deny it when anyone makes that implication. Toph pokes Sokka in the side unexpectedly and he lets out a squeak.

"I thought we were gonna play games on this trip," she says, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, of course! It's not a road trip without games! What do you wanna play, I Spy?" He asks cheerfully. Then his eyes widen as he realizes what he's said and he starts waving his arms around frantically. "No! No, never mind! That's not what I meant to say!"

"Shut up," Toph says, and though she doesn't do it physically, Sokka knows she's rolling her eyes at him internally. "Let's play I Spy. I bet I can beat you at it."

Sokka gapes. "No, it's okay, we can play something else –"

"I spy with my little eye," Toph begins loudly, cutting off Sokka's protests, "Something that is blue."

Sokka blinks once or twice then says, hesitantly, "The sky?"

"Nope," Toph says.

"There's nothing else around here that's blue!" Sokka protests.

"Yes there is," Toph says.

"You're just making things up!"

"Are you sure you wanna forfeit?"

"No! I'm not forfeiting, I'm saying you're cheating!"

"How could the _blind_ girl cheat at I Spy?" Toph aks, scoffing.

"By making up something that is blue!" Sokka practically yells.

"I didn't make it up," Toph says, more quietly.

"Then what is," Sokka asks, with irritation in his tone.

"It's your shirt," Toph says, shrugging her shoulders. Immediately Sokka looks down, then makes a frustrated kind of garbled noise.

"How do you know I'm wearing a blue shirt?" He asks.

"You always wear a blue shirt."

Sokka stops his grumbling and looks at Toph in surprise. She's actually smiling; not a sharp smirk of triumph, but a real, genuine smile. Sokka can't help but smile too, and his face heats up. He's not sure why, and he immediately wants it to stop. So he says loudly, "I spy with my little eye something that is green."

"My shirt," Toph says. "You can't just copy me!"

"Fine," Sokka says, huffing. "I spy with my little eye something that is yellow!"

"How am I supposed to know?" Toph asks scornfully. "I'm blind!"

"You said you wanted to play!" Sokka says accusingly. "It was your headband, anyway."

"Oh," Toph says, narrowing her eyes. "So you think you can beat me at my own game?" She asks. Sokka is suddenly very afraid of this small blind girl. "I spy with my little eye something that is red."

"Zuko's shirt?" Sokka asks.

"No."

"Aang's shirt?"

"No."

"What is it then? There's nothing else red in the car."

"Yes there is," Toph says, leaning closer to Sokka. Sokka tries to follow her gaze as it slides down his face.

"M-my lips!?" He asks incredulously.

"No," Toph whispers, leaning even closer, milimeters away. "Your cheeks!" She exclaims, pulling back and smacking both his cheeks with her hands. Sokka kind of wants to die right there, knowing Toph can feel how hot his face is, how flushed and embarrassed he really is.

"That's not fair," Sokka mumbles, knocking her hands away.

"It's totally fair," Toph cackles. "You're just a sore loser."

"I don't want to play with you anymore," Sokka says, turning his body away from her.

"Fine, sweet cheeks. Doesn't bother me." Toph laughs again.

The sun goes down shortly afterward and they only drive a few hours in the dark. Then they find the campsite Katara had meticulously marked on the map and all stumble around trying to assemble tents in the dark. Toph turns out the best at it; without her help they probably would have had to sleep on the ground. That would have made Zuko even angrier. Aang tries to convince everyone that the best sleeping arrangement would be him and Katara in one tent and everyone else in the other, but that gets shot down immediately. Katara insists on separating the group based on gender. Katara always gets her way.

So Sokka ends up sleeping in the middle of Aang, who is surprisingly clingy, and Zuko, who is unsurprisingly very grumpy. And since he slept in the car all day, he can't get to sleep. He keeps making a kind of snorting, scoffing noise and rolling over, rustling his sleeping bag obnoxiously, and being a general pain in one of Sokka's sides. He figures he can always make up lost sleep in the car tomorrow, but it's still painful to pass the night like a sardine in between two tuna fish. When Sokka finally does fall asleep, he has a weird dream in which everything is blurry and all he really remembers when he wakes up is a vague feeling fear and Toph leaning in close like she had during the day, but this time she actually kisses him. Sokka wakes up in a cold sweat before the sun has finished rising and doesn't try to go back to sleep.

Toph walks out of the girl's tent not long after and is evidently surprised to find him up and sitting on a log like a proper camper. "What's up, Sokka?"

"It's creepy that you can tell I'm here even though you can't see me," he mutters.

"Nobody breathes quite like you do, Pant-y McPanterson," Toph says cheerfully.

"Well, thanks for making me self-conscious about my breathing."

"Good morning to you too! What are you doing up this early?"

Sokka stands up suddenly. "It's your fault!" He says, pointing his finger at her. "I had a nightmare where you kissed me and then I woke up."

Toph's mouth twists into something in between amusement and hurt. "What, kissing me is a nightmare?" She asks, fidgeting with her hands. "That's harsh, Sokka. I know you like Suki, but give me a break, huh?"

"No!" Sokka breaks in immediately. "No, that's not what I meant! Oh man, why do I always say things like this!" He smacks his hand against his forehead. Toph starts to walk away.

"I'm going to the john," she says shortly, and somehow she doesn't come back until everyone else is awake and out of their tents, and it would just be too awkward to try and apologize to her in front of everyone, so Sokka doesn't say anything.

The next day passes by in something almost like silence. Toph claims the back seat, to Zuko's dismay, and he makes a big force of shoving himself into the seat and exhibiting how cramped his legs are. Sokka sits quietly, which is highly abnormal for him, but no one seems to notice. Sokka eventually falls asleep, and doesn't wake up until he hears a loud banging noise.

"What was that?" He yells, almost falling out of his seat despite his seat belt. Nobody else seems to know either, judging by all their yelling. Aang pulls the car over to the shoulder of the road amidst the chaos and shouts, "Everybody out!"

Once they've piled out of the van they can see the smoke rising from under its hood. "That's not good," Sokka mumbles. Katara is panicked, Toph is disinterested, and Zuko is complaining once more. But Aang is devastated, staring at his grandfather's beat-up old car, his hands on his head.

"Oh my god, what are we gonna do?" Katara asks, scrubbing her fingers through her hair anxiously.

"We were so close," Zuko says mournfully. "It was only two hours. I should have never agreed to come with you guys in this piece of junk car. This is the worst vacation of my life."

Toph is just kicking rocks to the side of everyone. Sokka approaches her cautiously. "The hood of the car is smoking," he explains hesitantly.

"I know," Toph says, but not in a rude or defensive tone. "I can smell it."

"I have no idea what we're gonna do now," Sokka says, stretching his arms out above his head. "Maybe we'll just have to camp here until somebody sends a search and rescue party."

Toph smiles a little, just with the corner of her mouth. "Or we could call a tow truck," she says.

"Oh please, we probably don't have reception her. Haven't you ever seen a movie?"

"I haven't seen any movies," Toph says thoughtfully, and Sokka suddenly wants to correct himself, or apologize, or both. "But I've heard a few. They were pretty good." Toph says, stopping Sokka's reply. It makes Sokka smile a little, and he leans beside her on the railing that separates the highway from a thick forest.

"You know, about this morning," Sokka begins, but Toph stops him.

"You don't have to apologize, I over-reacted," Toph says, going from smiling to a stony expression.

"I wasn't going to apologize," Sokka says with a shrug. "I was just going to tell you that Suki and I broke up already. It didn't work out. I don't like her anymore – I mean, not in _that_ way."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Toph asks, but Sokka has already wandered away to talk to Aang and Katara.

Loud honking interrupts their various conversations and they all look up at the road. It's a pretty deserted place, but there's a car rolling up. It's – a limo. "What the…" Zuko mutters.

The limo stops in front of them and the door is thrown open dramatically. Three people emerge from the vehicle. Azula. Mai. Ty Lee. "Oh God," Zuko says, and turns away from the limo like it will disappear if he wishes hard enough for it.

"Baby brother," Azula sing-songs. "Look at you getting into trouble! Good thing I'm here to rescue you," she says with a smirk. Zuko groans loudly.

"You've been _following_ us?" He asks, caught somewhere between annoyed and enraged. "I specifically told you I was going to the beach house with my friends so you couldn't go!"

"Oh, but brother, it's not fair that you didn't invite us along to play with you friends!" She sweeps her hand at Mai and Ty Lee, one of whom is completely occupied with filing her fingernails and the other who is smiling and waving at a frightened Sokka. Toph shoots her a glare and takes a step closer to Sokka, shocking both Ty Lee and Sokka. "Without our help, now, it seems like you won't get to the beach house at all," Azula says with a cold smirk. "Do you still want me to go back home and stop spoiling your fun?"

"No!" Zuko says petulantly, crossing his arms.

"Good," Azula says in a fake-sweet voice. "Then you and all of your pals can slide on into my limo."

There are two scrambles when everyone is getting into the limo. The first is a squabble between Ty Lee and Toph, who fight over the empty spot next to Zuko, and the second is a chaotic brawl as everyone in the car attempts to avoid sitting beside Azula except Mai. It ends up with six of them crowded into one side of the benches and the other two stretching their legs out leisurely. Mai lays her head on Azula's shoulder and Zuko makes the same snorting-scoffing noise he made during the night.

Although it's only two hours more, the limo seems like the longest part of the whole trip.

After getting settled at the beach house, Ty Lee immediately calls for a romantic bonfire. Katara agrees immediately and Sokka almost feels like he should be the one snort-scoffing this time. Sokka feels nothing but dread for the event, anticipating more tug-of-war between Toph and Ty Lee. He knows that Ty Lee's had a crush on him since like, seventh grade, but he has no idea what Toph is doing all of a sudden. If she's trying to protect him, she should probably stop. He's pretty sure she's just making things worse.

Out of nowhere while everyone's carrying lawn chairs out to the beach Toph appears at Sokka's elbow and tugs on his sleeve. Without a word Sokka follows where she's pulling him to. They end up at a dark part of the beach out of sight from all of the others, and Sokka's stomach does this weird shivery thing.

"What are we doing here?" Sokka asks, nervous.

"I want you to be honest with me," Toph says, and her intense style of interrogation already has Sokka sweating in fear.

"Ok?" he asks, trying to appease her. She rolls her eyes and him and steps up close, standing as tall as she can and tipping her head up to look him in the eyes. Sokka has a flashback to yesterday in the van and gets ready for humiliation. He closes his eyes, waiting for it.

"Why did you tell me you didn't like Suki anymore?" Toph asks, her tone accusing. Sokka opens his eyes in surprise.

"I just wanted to get things straight. I figured you had it all wrong before, so…" He shrugs helplessly, hoping he hasn't said something wrong.

Toph makes a frustrated noise and pokes him in the chest. "What is wrong with you?" she asks, and Sokka lets out a frightened squeak. "Why can't you just be clear with me?" She throws her hands up in frustration. "I thought you wanted to kiss me in the car yesterday, but then you told me you had a _nightmare_ about it, then you told me you didn't like Suki anymore and I thought I had a chance, and I even rescued you from Ty Lee, but you won't just say what you want from me!"

Sokka blinks. Then he blinks again. "Uh – what?" he asks.

Toph stomps her foot in anger and pushes him back from her a little. "Sokka! You dense, impossible, confused individual! Do you like me back or not?"

Sokka continues blinking. "You – you like me?" Sokka asks, starting to smile. Toph throws her hands up and starts to walk away.

"Ok, wait, wait!" Sokka says, grinning by now, grabbing Toph by the hand. "Yeah- yes, I like you back."

Toph still looks irritated. "Fine," she says, sounding a lot like she's conceding in an argument to him. "Then we're dating."

"Um, yeah, ok!" Sokka says, still grinning and attempting to keep up with the conversation. "Yeah, that sounds good. Ok." Toph adjusts her grip on Sokka's hand so that they're actually holding each other's hands, and Sokka sees something he doesn't think he's ever seen before – she blushes. Then she gets close up in his personal space, like she always seems to be doing lately, and she finally kisses him.


End file.
